Ammonia Calculator Q's

[trevorjd]

okay so i bought some ammonia from farm and fleet it is called valley view extra strength ammonia... i looked up the percentage of ammonia in it and the answer came to be "3.49% ammonia hydroxide and 1.66% for just the ammonia" so which number should i use in the calculator??

 

[AshleyNZ]

What I did is used one gallon of water in a bucket. I added small amounts of ammonia until it reached 3ppm. I then times this amount to the amount of gallons my tank holds. Hope this could help

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have never seen ammonia levels listed that way. Ammonia exists in two basic forms NH3 which is the actual ammonia gas and NH4 which is ammonium. When you put ammonia into water, depending on the pH and temperature, it breaks into these two forms. Our kits test for both combined, but it is the NH3 that the bacteria want and which is also much more toxic. If you used only the second number you would not be measuring the total ammonia. This means that adding the same amount of ammonia to two tanks which hold the same amount of water can result in different levels of the two forms but the same total. As the bacteria take in the NH3 portion, the chemistry dictates that some of the ammonium portion will become NH3 to restore the balance to where it should be under those conditions. Another way to understand this is that one can remove total ammonia simply by continuing to remove either NH3 or NH4.
 

 

What is Ammonium Hydroxide?
It is a liquid chemical solution that is colorless in appearance. It is obtained by dissolution of ammonia in water.
The chemical is also know by many other names like

• Ammonia water
• Ammoniacal liquor
• Ammonia liquor
• Aqua ammonia
• Aqueous ammonia
• Dilute ammonia

It is also known simply as Ammonia.

from http/www.chemistrylearner.com/ammonium-hydroxide.html#what-is-ammonium-hydroxide
 
You should work with the 3.49% number, I would make life easy and use 3.5%.
 
In the end the ammonia calculator is a much more accurate way to determine the needed ammonia dose as opposed to the dose and test method. Ammonia kits can be somewhat inaccurate especially when smaller increments are involved and then there is the fact that the color of the result when looked at by us is biased by how each eye perceives colors subjectively.

 

[trevorjd]

thanks to the both of you i appreciate the responses

 

[stanleo]

What I did is used one gallon of water in a bucket. I added small amounts of ammonia until it reached 3ppm. I then times this amount to the amount of gallons my tank holds. Hope this could help

Where were you four weeks ago,when I started my cycle with this ammonia that didn't list the strength? Lol. That is a great idea!

 

[AshleyNZ]

 

What I did is used one gallon of water in a bucket. I added small amounts of ammonia until it reached 3ppm. I then times this amount to the amount of gallons my tank holds. Hope this could help

Where were you four weeks ago,when I started my cycle with this ammonia that didn't list the strength? Lol. That is a great idea!
 

Haha it was! Wasn't my idea, although I can't remember whose it was.